Syria Grand Mufti Slams Der Spiegel for ‘Misquoting’ him

Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, the country's highest religious authority, said on Thursday that Der Spiegel magazine misinterpreted his statements concerning Syrian President Bashar Assad’s resignation after he has implemented reforms.

“I only intended to explain the developments in Syria,” Hassoun wrote on his website.

The grand mufti stressed that Der Spiegel used his statements out of context and altered some answers to negative statements.

“If the opposition presented a comprehensive program to convince the Syrian people and didn’t resort to assassinations, arms, and murder (against the Syrian people), then the president would have thanked them and returned to practicing his career,” he added.

He noted that he told the magazine that Assad “doesn’t cling to the presidency because some media outlets reported that he will resign after implementing reforms.”

Concerning his statements that Assad shares responsibility over the events in Syria, the grand mufti said: “We were discussing the turmoil in the nation and I said that every citizen in Syria shares the responsibility to safeguard the nation and is responsible for the crisis.”

Der Spiegel quoted Hassoun on Tuesday as saying: “I am convinced that he (Assad) will gradually introduce reforms, allow free and fair elections with independent parties, and then, after a peaceful transition, he might be willing to step down.”

“He's not president for life. Bashar Assad, a former eye doctor, wants to return to his old profession. I can easily imagine it. In fact, he has told me several times about his dream of running an eye clinic,” he added.